Death of an Alchemist
by Canadaphile
Summary: Mustang fights against an Elric imposter...
1. notice

This story is a work of fiction. It contains one of my original characters, so if you do not approve of OCs, hit the BACK button now. Please do not flame this story or my character without a reason.

Also, this story contains some bloody gore. If you do not like blood and gore, hit BACK now.

For those of you staying, please continue to chapter one of "Death of an Alchemist".


	2. Chapter 1

Flashes of lighting broke open the sky, permitting buckets of rain to pour onto the field. The group of soldiers stood in a group, watching the horizon uneasily for signs of an approaching army. They were all young men, fresh into battle. The one person—the man in charge—that had any experience in battle was Colonel Roy Mustang, the Flame Alchemist.

Thunder boomed menacingly, and the wind blew through their uniforms, chilling them even more with the icy rain. "Colonel."

Mustang looked back over his shoulder at the soldier who had spoken. He was holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes. "Colonel, I think I see someone." He handed the binoculars to his superior officer and pointed to where he saw an approaching group.

"Fullmetal." Mustang spoke softly, but some of the soldiers heard him. A murmur arose among them, whispers of the rouge dog of the military, the famous Edward Elric.

Soon the boys were close enough to be seen clearly unaided by binoculars. Edward was short in stature but well built, his long blonde hair pulled back into a braid. The hood of his red coat shadowed his face. Alphonse Elric, seven feet tall in a suit of metal armor, walked slightly behind his older brother. When they were several yards away, the boys stopped. "Mustang!" Edward called. "You have to call off your troops!"

The colonel's eyes narrowed. He handed the binoculars back the scout and stepped forward. "Why must I do that, Fullmetal? Who are you to give orders to your commanding officer?"

Edward didn't bite the bait as Mustang had thought the boy would. Instead, he pushed back his hood. The rain instantly plastered his bangs to his face. "Just pull back! You don't know what you're up against. We've seen what happens." Alphonse nodded at the colonel, backing up his brother's words. Mustang crossed his arms over his chest and thought momentarily.

"Come here." The young alchemist took a small step back, one that no one but Alphonse and the colonel noticed. Then he looked back at his armored brother and shrugged. The boys approached the colonel warily, suspicious. Less than three yards from the soldiers' base camp, Mustang suddenly threw out his hand and snapped his fingers, sending out a streak of flames directly at Edward.

The boy threw himself backwards as Alphonse ducked right. "Dammit, Mustang, what was that for?!" He cried out as another bolt of fire scorched the earth where he had previously landed. The rain and damp earth immediately snuffed out the flame.

"Edward Elric would not have let my comment slide by without losing his temper and trying to attack me." The colonel settled his hands in his pockets, drying his gloves from the rain. He smirked. "Where is the real Edward Elric?"


	3. Chapter 2

"What do you mean, Colonel? That's Brother, he's just-"

"AL!" Edward grinned, his face twisting into a menacing mask. He suddenly began to glow with yellow and orange—the combined colors meant a combination of alchemy. Edward slowly began to shift and change: his hair grew longer and dark brown, gold eyes faded and closed, his body elongated and shaped into soft curves beneath the tight black pants and red coat. After the light faded, the face was no longer Edward's, but a young woman's. The grin was still on her face, but her eyes were closed.

"W-what?" Alphonse stammered in confusion. "Where's Brother? Who are you?"

"Human alchemy. Breaking the third rule of alchemy right in front of me," Mustang said. The girl was motionless save the red fabric coat falling around her feet. Alphonse took a step towards her as she raised her head.

"Boo." Eyes redder than blood glared at the soldiers. Each man gasped and stared at her. Mustang put out a hand to calm them.

"An Ishbalan? What are you doing out here; I though alchemy was against your people."

The girl blinked and giggled. The sound chilled the group more than the freezing wind and rain. A lighting bolt struck the ground hundreds of yards away. "Whatever makes you think I'm an Ishbalan girl?" She paused and passed a hand over her face, stopping over her eyes. "So they're red…how interesting. I always wondered why he made me wear a cloth…"


	4. Chapter 3

"What the hell are you talking about?" Mustang shouted angrily. He found himself loosing his temper for no reason; it took all his control to prevent himself from attacking the girl. He flinched when her crimson gaze fell on him, but he noticed the red was slightly duller in hue.

"I'm not Ishbalan; this is not my natural color. End of story." Alphonse stepped up behind her and clamped a heavy hand onto her shoulder.

"Not end of story; where's my brother?" His voice was firm and full of slightly-veiled violence if she refused to answer him.

"He got tied up back at the station." Alphonse suddenly found himself sailing through the air. He landed hard on his back hundreds of feet away. A gaping hole in the center of his body armor smoked slightly; the emptiness was evident.

"You should've listened to my warning, Mustang. You're way out of your league!" As she spoke, the girl launched herself into the group of soldiers; they scattered away, fumbling for weapons as she slashed at their superior officer with a small dagger.

At close range, all Mustang could do was fend off her thrusts and throw in a punch or kick when he could. His men didn't dare shoot for fear of hitting the colonel. Some got in between Mustang and the Elric-imposter, but then they were tossed aside by the fighters. One grabbed her arm, but fell back screaming in pain as she severed his hand from his wrist.

The soldiers watched until the girl stopped advancing and glared at them from over her shoulder. "You're so annoying!" A sudden heat overtook the group. They felt the blood rising to their faces, as if they were blushing with fever; the blood was hot, though, hotter than a fever. It began to tremble and boil, shaking the men where they stood. Blood poured from their eyes like uncontrollable tears; it seeped from their pores and nostrils and ears; it trickled from their mouths as they screamed and yelled.

Then they burst. From the inside out, they seemed to melt away and explode. When the girl had concentrated her eyes on the soldiers, she had made blueprints of each of their bodies, mapping out their organs and veins and arteries. She dilated the blood vessels until the blood rushed to their heads.

Mustang watched in terrified silence; the hangman's horrorific aura that clung to the girl making all the wars and battles he'd seen seem like the tiniest matter. When she looked at him, her eyes glowed a bright red. The blood had splattered everywhere, covering the ground and making the sky rain blood. The girl grinned, red streaks covering her face giving her a look that verged on lunacy. "Now we can really play."


	5. Chapter 4

The colonel snapped his fingers, sending a shower of flames at his opponent. She jumped backwards onto her hands and flipped back onto her feet, never losing her danger.

It was raining harder; Alphonse could hardly see the colonel or the girl. He did notice a movement further down the field; it looked like someone running. "Who is that?"

The girl laughed as she dodged more flames. Several feet away, she jeered at him "Don't get too wet, Colonel! You know you're useless in the rain!" As she said it, he put his left hand in his pocket. Using his right, he kept snapping flames at the girl; she was more experienced than he initially imagined. No matter how many times he tried or how many traps he set, she always got out of them. Mustang shook his wet hair from his eyes in frustration.

How is she doing that? Mustang thought to himself as he kicked the girl back. The tip of her dagger caught his sleeve and fell from her hand. He put his foot on it before she could scoop it up. The colonel brought out his left hand—now fully dry. "It's over kid," he said. Something out of the corner of his—something running—made him pause, and that was all the time the girl needed to chop at the man's leg and retrieve her weapon.

"Fat chance old man!" Mustang brought his arm up to block at her forearm and threw all his strength into a punch to her gut. She coughed and fell to her knees.

"Brother!" Alphonse called to Edward, but a boom of thunder drowned out his voice. The armored boy stood and ran in the direction his brother was heading, towards the fight.

She looked behind her, as if sensing someone coming. When she saw the person running towards her, her crimson eyes widened. "Edward?" she whispered.

"Mustang!" Edward ran faster, trying to be heard over the rain and thunder. The colonel snapped his fingers. "NO!" Edward yelled to the colonel, but flames burst from his fingers and engulfed the girl in moments.


	6. Chapter 5

The rain ate away the fire, but the damage was done. The color of her eyes leaked out from the corners of her eyes and down her face, streaking the mud away with blood. Crystal blue irises gazed at the alchemists as she sank to her knees and collapsed to the ground. The light slowly faded from her eyes. The girl fell on her back, her legs at her sides, blistered and bleeding.

Edward cradled the girl's head in his lap, staring into her clear, sightless blue eyes. The tears began to flow and sobs shook him. He gave himself up to them now for the first time since his confrontation with Barry the Chopper; great, shuddering spasms of grief seemed to wrench his whole body. He tilted his head back, unable to look into her eyes anymore, and his voice rose under the thick clouds and roaring rain. In the middle of the open, destroyed field laden with dead men; with filthy body, matted hair and bloody nose, Edward wept for the end of innocence and the death of a true friend, Cierra.

The sun broke trough the stormy gray clouds, shedding light on the site of a horrendous battle; the site of over one hundred deaths.


End file.
